Reviews by schoon:

More User Reviews:

Appearance – This is a deep, hazy orangish-brown with a pretty good off-white head.

Smell – There’s a huge mix of tangerine and grapefruit hops at the nose laced with ultra-sugary caramel malt.

Taste – The rindy citrus takes over at the taste. I can get supplemental pine as well. The malts try to keep up but struggle. They are less sweet than I thought from the nose but still quite caramelly.

Mouthfeel – This is big, almost full-bodied, with a harsh dry finish and light carbonation.

Drinkability – The sum did not live up to its parts here. The hops were sophisticated and heavy and the caramel was very clean, but together the balance was off. The hops came across as heavy-handed, which often is good but in this case didn’t work. (755 characters)

Tastes like someone threw a ton of hops at this ale without caution. We love our hops, but it is very easy to kill a beer with them as well. Several sips in, the nearly astringent character does not let up. With some balance, there would be more praise. (559 characters)

A very non traditional DIPA, the name alone had me interested enough to purchase once but I don't think I will get it again. The beer poured a cloudy copper color with a thin white head. Smell was very bready and malty with a slight hint of citrusy hops. Flavor was a mixed bad with a powerful malt presence, slight citrus hop bite in the middle and an unexpected nuttiness on the back end finish. For a beer at 9% abv the alcohol flavor is not very prominent at all. Mouthfeel was thick and not over carbonated, but the heavy malt flavor translated into a heavier mouthfeel as well.

This tasted like a beer that does not know its own identity. Definitely not hoppy enough to be a DIPA and a confusing malt profile that made this a not too enjoyable experience. (763 characters)

22 ounce bomber pours a hazy, almost murky, orange amber body with a small beige head. Some patchy lacing.

Aroma is caramel, pine, some citrusy hop notes, and a dirty earthiness.

Medium body and carbonation with a prevailing woodsy earthiness.

Taste opens with chewy caramel, quickly eclipsed by bitter pine and some very earthy hops. A hint of citrusy orange underneath. The earthiness becomes harsh and astringent toward the finish. Alcohol is pretty well hidden.

The astringency hurts drinkability, but this one isn't that bad. A different interpretation of the style, certainly. (587 characters)

I knew this was going to be a weird beer when I read the label and there was no mention of hops. Lots of info about malt, none about hops. That has to be a first for a Double IPA.

The beer pours an amber color with a white head. The aroma is some flowery hops with a ton of caramel malt. I also got a little bit of orange citrus, but it was well in the background. The flavor is toffee and caramel malt with a tad bit of bitterness. The beer is a little bit nutty, I guess from all of the malt. Once again there is some orange citrus from the hops, but it is very subtle. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation.

Overall, I enjoyed the beer. It isn't a very good Double IPA since there is so little bitterness and hop flavor, but as far as taste goes, it is pretty good. Definitely better than the Rahr Storm Cloud IPA. (822 characters)

Hoppy aroma, citrusy, resiny, fruitPours brilliant amber, 2” rocky foam head, another root beer float head that produces ledges of lace.Palate: hops rule but they are not overbearing. Citrusy hop flavors and bitterness blend well with the light grainy malt flavors and the light large pitted fruit flavors produced by the yeast. Medium body and carbonation. OK but not great. (382 characters)

Amber copper colored with a low off-white and orangey head that doesn't rise up much and settles out quickly.

Inviting aroma of pine sap, citrus, and honey malt.

Complex flavor with an interesting mix of grapefruit rind, pine sap, biscuity malt, and a bit of a smokey character in the background. Slight alcohol vapor, but it doesn't detract. Well balanced, no flavor dominates.

Pours a slightly hazy copper color with a half-finger white head. The head recedes into a patchy layer on top leaving solid lacing.

Smells of pale malts with good amounts of citrus and tropical fruit hop aromas.

Tastes similar to how it smells. Mildly dry pale malt flavors kick things off, followed shortly thereafter by large amounts of tropical fruit hop flavors with hints of underlying grassiness. The hops carry through to a solidly bitter ending.

Drinkability is also good. I finished my glass without any problems and could have another.

Overall the main flaw with this beer was the lack of a decent malt backbone. The hops almost make up for it and actually succeed in the nose but the flavors just can't quite hold up. Still, this is a tasty beer that's worth a shot. (863 characters)

I was confused before I found out that these are the same guys that brew Ass Kisser wines. Apparently they couldn't find a beer reviewing website who gave it a high score, so they got a 90 from Wine Enthusiast. Okay.

The color is a solid, deep amber, nearly orange, and this beer develops a pretty heavy, chunky eggshell white head that sits well on top of the brew it crowns. It leaves leggy lacing with some patching to boot.There's a weird dusty earthiness in the nose combined with an overly strong note of husk and some alcohol. It's absolutely too malt-forward for a good DIPA, though some herbal and floral bitterness comes out, and some of the earthiness can be attributed to hops as well. Citrus gives off both sweet and tangy notes.There's a stronger hops presence in the flavor, but it goes a little too pithy and has a harsh edge to it. Malts do add support and balance, but the biscuit and caramel isn't enough to offset the chalky notes, and the assault of resin would be good if it was well-acclimated to a West Coast type of IPA, but it doesn't fit in this mess. It's nice that tropical fruits make an effort, but they turn sour in the aspirin-like finish. This is what happens when a brewer thinks it's so easy to make a DIPA and has no idea what balance is.As I brace for hard dryness, i'm a little relieved, at least, that it doesn't go too far in the feel. It's still not great, but there's a little smoothness to even things out and it's reasonably crisp. (1,480 characters)

A-Pretty bright copper amber with a near filted quality to it. Very little head to speak of, and that is a shame, because the coloration is very nice.

S-Not picking up any of the malts that one would normally assoicate with a DIPA. Earthy, bready rich caramel malts and some sugary caramelized dark fruits. Smells like a barleywine.

T-Rich sweet creamy malts mesh into bubblegum and caramel. Mild citrus rind with a hint of sweetness is drenched in astringent, but not necessarily tasty hops that round out the finish. I would not classify this as a DIPA, but probably put it in the "catch all" strong ale category. That said, it is not terribly drinkable, or tasty, and while interesting, I'm not sure why I would buy this again.

M-Creamy texture and decent carbonation balance.

D-Interesting beer that I have no need to revisit again. (883 characters)

A: Pours a hazy orange with a small fizzy white head. The head dissipated very quickly, but there was some rings of lacing left behind.

S: Very light hop aroma, really not much there. A little bit of orange and orange peel, but overly malty with some caramel and a bit grainy as well.

T: Quite boring and grainy. Not much hop presence on the flavor profile. Overly malty, full of caramel and a little doughy. Slightly bitter finish.

M: Medium bodied and a little grainy. No sign of 9%, wouldn't have guessed it that high.

O: Not even close to hoppy, and overall quite boring. No bottle dating, so could be old, but I have old DIPAs that are still good, this one, new or old, just didn't do anything for me. (735 characters)

The flavor is pretty much overwhelmed my the maltiness. Not like a DIPA at all. The defining DIPA characteristic hop notes are faint. Sweet maltiness up front with a little bit of hops from middle to the end and then a caramel aftertaste

Full bodied and a little heavy due to the malt. A little tacky. Very little carbonation

Overall I gotta say this is not a great representation of the style. It's very heavy handed on the caramel malt and lacking in the hops department to balance it out and better represent the style. Not sure I'd get it again. (683 characters)

22oz bottle into Duvel tulip...no freshness date...seemed rare and I liked the name, so $8.29 later...

A - poured a deep orange/dark amber/golden color with a 1/4" off-white foam that dissipated quickly to thin ring and had a patchy surface film...

S - I could smell a caramel sweetness as soon as the cap came off...and after a pour & settle...I got spicy, leafy, non-floral hops with considerable malt and hints of some fruit...traces of alcohol too...if I were smelling this blind I would probably lean towards a barleywine

T - malt up front...some bitter hops and spice that are found in this style...nothing dominates...some alcohol in the swallow and finish...subtle and well played.Other IIPA's share commonalities with barleywines and could be considered strong ales just the same, but this one strikes me as a crossbreed, a mutt, if you will...the taste doesn't fit the style IMO, but it's still very inviting of another pull...

M - lite to medium, with little carbonation...not as sticky as I expected...cleaned up pretty well...better than average for sure

D - not a hop-bomb IIPA by any means, but an interesting take on the style, I suppose...blurs a line between IIPA, American Barleywine and even a Strong Ale...definitely a big, drinkable brew, but maybe not as a IIPA...aside from the taste, I believed I was drinking a IIPA...might be a one and done for me, although I would consider offering this at a tasting. (1,436 characters)

Gotta call this pour "true to style," that's for sure. Big creamy head, rocky and firm, sitting on stop of a lightly hazed orange sunset color. And absolute gobs of lace. Very nice.

Aroma is as malty as it is hoppy, plenty of caramel tones and some toffee too. Juicy and candy-like, similar to Arrogant Bastard or other US strong ales. The hops are herbal and flowery for the most part, even a bit of cannabis sneaking in. Trace of alcohol far back.

Taste brings it down just a notch, lacking a bit of character and direction. Still juicy, still candy-like, and very much not (unlike the aroma) leaning toward American Strong Ale land...Rahr & Sons calls this a double IPA and so it is. But there's a medicinal quality to the alcohol that could be reeled in, and the tangy, minty, orange-tasting hops don't quite mesh with the malt as well as I'd like, and there probably isn't enough malt here to begin with, but having said all that, it gets pretty close to the mark and brings at least something to the DIPA table.

Would have liked a creamier, silkier texture, as this has a fair bit of carbonation bite. There is, surprisingly, a softness trying to creep its way in, but it never makes it totally. Alcohol persists, if relatively tame, in the sticky finish.

Not bad, but after having a Surly Abrasive Ale just 24 hours ago, well, the bar just got even higher for this style. Glad to have tried Ass Kisser, though, and it's probably worth at least a shot by any Double IPA aficionado, if only for reference's sake. (1,521 characters)

It's good enough to have local (Texas) breweries making beer for this great stat...e, but it is another for local breweries making special beers, like Rahr & Sons Brewery's Ass Kisser Double IPA. I recently visited the Rahr brewery and had a good time drinking their beers and being in the commotion of many fellow beer drinkers. The fact that it's an IPA, a double IPA at that, makes it all the better!

After pouring this beer it presented a clear copper body with only a few bubbles rising to the top at any given time. The head is too beautiful. It's off-white, has a delightful velvet texture, has plenty of itself left floating at the top after poured, and leaves plenty of lacing on the glass. It has one of those heads that lets you know the beer is going to be great. The aroma is overly floral and very sweet with the pine tree and mango being secondary in strength but adding extra loveliness. While there might not be an IPA that I won't like, the Ass Kisser is definitely one that I love.

First tasted is the spice of the hops and the bite of the carbonation, which is just right, but in the middle there is a smorgasbord of intertwined and well-balanced flavors of sweet caramel paired with a pine-mango marriage. The Ass Kisser is so sweet and tasty that it makes me want to smack my lips and I could almost call this candy! The middle-taste lasts so long with its sweetness and pine tree flavor that you can savor the sip of the beer for dozens of seconds. A lingering and enjoyable flavor is the more general barley/bread flavor of beers but it is tasted along with, still, a sweet-pine-hop-flavor. It's not as hoppy as you'd think a double IPA would be and I'm sure it is much too sweet for some. I can't taste the alcohol at all but it certainly does hit you!

Maybe I just love IPAs too much and maybe I'm biased because this is a Texas beer but Rahr & Sons' Ass Kisser is overly enjoyable. It should be a sin to enjoy this beer as much as I am right now! I'll kiss the ass of all who were a part of brewing this yummy brew.

It seems like I'm the only one who actually liked this beer. (2,108 characters)